The Boyfriend Series Box Set (Books 1-6): YA Contemporary Romance Novels

by Christina Benjamin

  It was after ten when Parker saw Jared drive up with Beth in his car. They parked in Jared’s driveway. That was fifteen minutes ago. And they still hadn’t gotten out. There was only one reason they’d be in the car that long and Parker didn’t want to think about it. He begrudgingly yanked the plug from the wall, bathing his bedroom in darkness as the star lights winked out.

  8

  Beth

  Beth blushed as she felt her swollen lips. Thankfully, she skittered across her front porch undetected. She was out after curfew, which was ten on school nights. Eleven on the weekends. Beth was the only high school senior she knew with a curfew, but as she recalled the desperate way Jared had kissed her just now, she knew she’d break curfew a million times over to do that again.

  Jared had a way of leaving her feeling breathless and lighter than air all at once—like she could actually float away if she didn’t cling to him while they kissed. Beth knew she was being a total girl, but she couldn’t help it. She’d always been a hopeless romantic. Her life long dream was to be an actress, so how could she not be starry-eyed when it came to her boyfriend? Jared was basically her white knight. Sure, he rolled in on a moving truck instead of a horse, but everything else felt like a fairytale.

  Sometimes Beth still had to pinch herself when she looked at him. Jared was by far the most gorgeous boy she’d ever met in real life. He was like a teenaged Brad Pitt with sandy brown hair and lacrosse gear. And when Jared smiled at her, Beth literally felt dizzy. She couldn’t help it, the boy was swoon-worthy.

  The only bad thing about dating Jared was Beth didn’t feel like she had anyone she could talk to about him. She had Caroline, but she wasn’t the gushy romantic type. And boys were the one subject Beth couldn’t talk to Parker about. For once, she wished one of her annoying sisters were around to confide in, because Beth was pretty sure she was falling for Jared. She’d never felt this way before—it was terrifying.

  Beth snuck up to her room and quickly washed up for bed. She glanced out her bedroom window to Parker’s house. All the lights were off. Huh . . . She could’ve sworn she’d seen his star lights on when she and Jared pulled up. Perhaps it was wishful thinking? Either way, first love wasn’t something Beth could talk to Parker about. Deep down, she’d always thought he would be her first love and now it felt like a betrayal to tell him her heart was connecting with someone else.

  She stared out the window for a moment longer, wondering not for the first time, why she and Parker had never become more than just friends. It’s not that they hadn’t had opportunities. There’d been plenty. But Parker never made his move. And maybe Beth was old-fashioned but she was never going to act first. There was too much at risk.

  Beth let her thoughts muddle around her head a bit longer, annoyed that they kept coming back to Parker’s comment from last summer. ‘There’s only one girl for me.’

  Why couldn’t Beth get that out of her head? She’d wasted too much time wondering who that mystery girl was. And what did it mean that she was still having thoughts like this about Parker while falling for Jared? Could she possibly love them both?

  Frustrated, Beth climbed in bed. She was too wound up to sleep so she scrolled through her phone, wondering which of her sisters would be the best to call. Her oldest sisters Bianca and Britton were sweet but they were ten and seven years older than Beth. They probably didn’t even remember what it felt like the first time they fell in love. And then there was Brianne, who was always Beth’s favorite sister, but she lived in Scotland and the time difference made it impossible to ever get in touch. Beatrice might be a good one to call. She was probably the most like Beth—conservative and sensible. She was only three years older and visited often. Plus, she’d actually met Jared at Christmas and could weigh in with her impression of him.

  Beth glanced at the phone and sighed. It was way too late to call Beatrice. She had four kids under the age of three. If Beth woke them up she knew Beatrice would kill her. Beatrice lived in Boston and visited a lot after she had the twins. Two kids she could handle, but the unexpected twins seemed to overwhelm her. Beth couldn’t blame her. Beatrice was definitely outnumbered by her mini army of diaper-clad towheads. Luckily, Beth and her mother loved babysitting whenever they could.

  With all of Beth’s other sisters not being viable options, that only left Brenna. Beth shuddered. There was no way she could talk to Brenna about this. Especially after the way Brenna behaved when she found out Beth had a crush on Parker.

  Brenna was only a year older than Beth and the two of them fought over everything growing up. One day Brenna caught Beth writing about Parker in her diary. Brenna snatched it and threatened to tell Parker what she wrote. Beth had run crying hysterically to her mother about the diary stunt and Brenna got grounded. But that didn’t stop her from marching right up to Parker the next day and kissing him right on the lips!

  No, Brenna could definitely not be trusted when it came to boys. Her parents would agree. Brenna was the worst of all the Bennett girls when it came to boys. Or when it came to anything really. She’d single-handedly given their father gray hair when she came home with her own hair dyed red and a piercing through her eyebrow on her fourteenth birthday.

  Brenna had been the only Bennett sister born with strawberry blonde hair. The rest of them were all blonde and that led to lots to teasing by the older sisters, saying that Brenna was the milk man’s daughter and got her fiery temper from her hair color. Brenna, being Brenna, decided to embrace the taunt and dyed her hair fire engine red. She also got lots of tattoos and piercings and a few years later, ran off with some motorcycle artist before graduating high school. Then, to top it off, she got pregnant, the motorcycle guy left her and she now lived in Georgia, single-parenting a toddler while her parents foot the bill. Long story short, Brenna was the reason Beth had to live under such harsh rules.

  If it weren’t for crazy Brenna, maybe Beth wouldn’t have been in this awkward situation. She could’ve dated like a normal high school girl and gone to proms and gained the experience she needed to deal with all these confusing boyfriend feelings. Beth couldn’t help thinking if she’d dated more than one boy in her life she’d know the difference between love and attraction. But as it was, Beth was just impressed that someone as popular as Jared wanted to be her boyfriend after finding out she was so inexperienced.

  Beth actually thought their fling would end when summer did. But Jared had been surprisingly eager to introduce Beth to everyone as his girlfriend the first day of school. It was true that he didn’t have as much time for her these days now that lacrosse was in full swing. He hadn’t gone to any of her theater performances and he didn’t share her love of black and white movies or Broadway music . . . but couples didn’t have to do everything together, did they?

  That’s what friends were for. And Beth had the best friend in the world. Parker went to all her plays, he never missed a Sunday Night Classic at the Vestige, and he listened to her Broadway soundtracks without complaint.

  Beth sighed, realizing how bad it sounded when she thought of it that way. But just because she and Jared were into different things didn’t mean they wouldn’t work out, or that their feelings weren’t real. Variety was the spice of life, and opposites attract. Maybe it was good that they had different interests?

  Beth wished she had the answers, because her questions felt really important. She always imagined the first time she had sex it would be because she was madly in love and she wouldn’t be able to stop her desire to share every bit of herself with that person. But with Jared she just wasn’t sure. Everything was so new and exciting with him. But was that love?

  Beth looked longingly at Parker’s window one last time. The lights were still out. Sometimes she felt like they had a sixth sense for each other and that if she stared at his window long enough the light would come on. She knew it was a childish thought, but still, she stared at his window for a moment longer before flopping onto her side and trying to sleep.

  9


  Beth

  Beth’s sleepless night turned into a nightmare of a day. She walked downstairs to grab a bagel on her way out the door, but stopped when she noticed her mother merrily addressing a stack of purple envelopes at the breakfast bar. When Beth realized what she was doing her heart sank. Purple envelopes only meant one thing in the Bennett house—a wedding.

  “Mom?” Beth asked, timidly stepping into the kitchen. “Whose are those?”

  “Oh, good morning, sweetheart. I thought you’d left for school already.”

  Beth had walked close enough to read the names printed in elegant script across the lavender paper. And when she read it, she wished she’d just stayed in bed.

  Brenna Bennett & Eric Mason

  request the honor of your presence at their marriage,

  “Who the hell is Eric Mason?” Beth asked swiping an invitation from the bar.

  “Apparently, Brenna’s fiancé.”

  “Since when?”

  “You know your sister. She’s always been a bit impulsive.”

  Beth was about to respond with a snide comment when she noticed the date of the wedding. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “Is this a joke?” Beth hissed. “The wedding is two weeks away.”

  “Oh it’s no joke. I spoke to Brenna last night. Eric’s in the military and they have to work around his strict schedule. This was the only time he has leave.”

  “But it’s in the middle of my spring break!” Beth yelled.

  “Yes, I’m sorry about that, sweetheart. But I know I can count on you to understand that family comes first.”

  “But this is so unfair, Mom! I’ve been planning my trip for years and Brenna just met this guy. It’s not my fault she probably got herself knocked up and now has to rush a wedding.”

  Her mother put down the envelope she’d been stuffing and arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Beth, quickly shutting her down. Beth knew better than to argue when her mother gave that look. To make matters worse, her mother spoke in a soft calm voice. “I’m going to excuse that childish outburst, Beth. But understand me when I say I will not tolerate my daughters speaking about each other that way. You will be at your sister’s wedding and you will celebrate graciously. After the wedding if you’d still like to go to Aspen with your friends, you may. But I don’t want to hear another word about it. Am I understood?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, now go to school. We can discuss the rest of the wedding details tonight.”

  Beth took a deep breath at her lunch table waiting for the storm she’d known was coming the moment she’d seen Brenna’s wedding invitations. All day Beth was dreading breaking the news. By the time lunch rolled around she knew she couldn’t keep it in a moment longer.

  Beth blurted out her bad news. “I can’t go to Aspen.”

  Silence followed her declaration and Beth carefully surveyed the expressions on her friends’ shocked faces.

  Caroline was the first to speak. “What do you mean you’re not coming?” she growled. “We’ve been planning this forever, Beth!”

  “I know the concept of decency is foreign to you, Car, but Beth can’t skip her sister’s wedding to party with you in Aspen,” Parker replied.

  “Which sister is this?” Jared asked.

  “Brenna,” Parker replied in his ‘try to keep up’ tone.

  Beth said nothing. She continued to stare at the lavender invitation that sat unassumingly on their lunch table. It was like a pretty paper bomb, slowly counting down to an explosion that would dismantle the course of their futures.

  Beth massaged her temples. She couldn’t believe this was happening. It still felt like a bad dream. But she knew from the moment she’d seen Brenna’s name on the ominous purple invitation that her sister was going to blow a bridezilla-sized hole in all of Beth’s perfect plans.

  Of course Brenna would still find a way to ruin Beth’s life from a thousand miles away. Brenna had spent her childhood tormenting Beth as only a big sister could, so it was fitting that it was Brenna’s wedding that was ruining everything Beth had planned for spring break.

  It wasn’t just that it was her last high school spring break, but it was the first time she and Jared would be going away together. It was also when Beth had planned to finally sleep with him. She knew Jared was counting down the days. It’s not that he was pressuring her. Honestly, Beth was pleasantly surprised that he’d been willing to wait this long. But from the way Jared was glaring at the invitation, Beth had a sneaking suspicion that there was an expiration date on his patience.

  Beth was trying to keep a lid on her emotions as Caroline and Parker squabbled over whether or not there was any hope of saving their epic spring break plans. Beth wanted to scream at the injustice of it all, but more than anything, she wanted Jared to say he’d skip Aspen to go to Brenna’s wedding with her so they could still have their romantic weekend. Had he not seen that as an option?

  So far, Jared remained uncharacteristically silent. Beth reached over and took his hand. “I’m really sorry,” she whispered. “I know the timing sucks.”

  Jared huffed. “That’s the understatement of the year. How did you not know about this?”

  “No one did. Brenna just sprang it on us.”

  Parker snorted. “That’s Hurricane Brenna for ya.”

  Beth ignored Parker and continued to plead her case. “Jared, I know a wedding in Georgia isn’t an equal trade for what we had planned in Aspen but—”

  Jared cut her off. “Wait. You don’t actually think I’m skipping a snowboarding trip in Aspen to go to some wedding, do you?”

  “Not some wedding,” Parker corrected. “Her sister’s wedding.”

  Beth felt her cheeks heat as the boys glared at each other across the table, filling the air with tension. Parker and Jared had been doing this a lot lately and it wasn’t doing Beth any favors. She gave Parker a pleading look before turning to Jared. “I know it sucks, but I have to go. Weddings are non-negotiable in my family.”

  “Well it’s a good thing I’m not family then,” Jared muttered.

  Beth stared at him, at a loss for words. The fact that Parker and Caroline were witnessing this argument made it that much worse. Jared seemed to notice everyone staring and slammed his sandwich back into its wrapper. “What? This is total bullshit. You’re all thinking it, but I guess I’m the only one with the balls to say it,” he accused, fixing Parker with a glare before storming from the table.

  Parker

  It took every ounce of restraint Parker had not to stand up and deck Jared for speaking to Beth that way. But one look at Beth’s crestfallen face had stopped Parker in his tracks. Her dark brown eyes were etched with hurt and the tiny crease between her pale eyebrows was deep with worry. It was a good thing Parker was sitting across the table from her or he didn’t think he’d be able to resist pulling Beth into his arms to console her.

  Parker was finding it harder and harder to hide his feelings for her lately. It was like everything about Beth was designed to lure him in. Her golden hair smelled like citrus and coconut, and every time she flipped it over her shoulder he wanted to run his fingers through it. And her damn dimpled smile had the ability to make his heart stop. Then there was her smooth ivory skin that begged for his touch. And the way she bit her lower lip when she was nervous made it impossible for Parker to think of anything but kissing her. Beth lit up his world and she didn’t even know it.

  Sometimes, Parker wasn’t even sure how it had happened, but it had. The line between friendship and more had completely dissolved. It left Parker feeling like he was suddenly free falling anytime Beth laughed or casually brushed his hand. It was maddening, and a tiny part of him wished he could go back because it was painfully obvious that Beth didn’t have those feelings for him.

  It was also painfully obvious that Caroline was loving this. The girl thrived on drama and Parker couldn’t help noticing Caroline was smiling like the cat that swallowed the canary. It didn’t escape Par
ker, that Caroline couldn’t have orchestrated this plan to keep Beth and Jared apart any better if she’d tried.

  Beth stood up, mumbling an excuse about needing to go to the ladies room before fleeing the lunch table. Parker’s heart went out to her. He’d thought by keeping an eye on Jared he’d be able to keep him in line, but from what Parker had just seen transpire, it wasn’t going to be good enough. Not by a mile.

  Beth didn’t deserve to be treated that way and it was about time for Parker to do something. He stood to follow Beth from the room, but Caroline put a hand on his chest to stop him. “I’ve got this one.”

  10

  Beth

  Beth could feel her eyes welling with tears. She was not going to cry over this. She heard her mother’s voice in her head. ‘Bennett girls don’t cry over boys.’

  Okay, so maybe they did. But Beth was at least determined not to in front of anyone else. She walked calmly from the cafeteria. Of course when she was out of the room she broke into a run, not stopping until she was in the women’s bathroom, where she could cry in privacy.

  She hid in a stall and dabbed at her eyes with toilet paper while silently cursing her sisters. Why did she have to have five sisters? If there was any justice in the world, at least one of her siblings could’ve been a boy. But no, Beth was saddled with five older sisters, all of whom morphed into bridezillas on bath salts and threw inconvenient, life-ruining weddings. And Beth should know, having been a bridesmaid in all of them.